NCC: New Waters Rule Is Practical and Sustainable

By Cotton Grower Staff|January 27, 2020

The National Cotton Council welcomed the EPA/Corps of Engineers’ January 23 release of the Trump Administration’s version of the “waters of the United States,” officially named the Navigable Waters Protection Rule.

“This final rule removes many elements from federal control that were initiated in the previous administration,” said NCC Chairman Mike Tate. “That includes features that contain water only in response to rainfall, groundwater, many farm and roadside ditches, prior converted cropland and stock watering ponds.”

The Alabama cotton producer noted that the NCC has worked tirelessly for this rule – an action which will restore power to states for controlling their own waters and their local land use and zoning issues.

“The U.S. cotton industry has long sought consistency and simplicity in water regulations,” Tate reiterated, “because all of agriculture deserves a commonsense and understandable rule that not only ensures environmental and human health but protects farmland and farmers’ rights to conduct operations in a responsible and economically sustainable manner with flexibility that wasn’t present under the 2015 rule.”

Tate said the NCC will continue to monitor the rule’s implementation.